Water wheel generator under construction for Seattle, Wash.

In the more purely mathematical field, Giorgi published in 1903-05 two very remarkable papers, which were the first to give a rigorous form to the operational calculus. Giorgi was the first to apply the Laplace transform to the symbolic or operational method, showing the connection between this powerful and rigorous mathematical tool and the Heaviside approach. It should be recalled that Heaviside introduced the Laplace transform only in the third volume of his "Electromagnetic Theory" which was published in 1912.2 Unfortunately, Giorgi's work was published in a relatively unknown magazine, in Italian, and was then too difficult for many electrical engineers. Thus, later contributions (as Carson's) over-shadowed Giorgi's original contribution. A subsequent work by Giorgi on this subject is the communication to the International Congress of Mathematics in Toronto (1924) entitled "The Functional Dependence of Physical Variables'' in which the problem is considered in its generality.

Other papers of Giorgi are concerned with higher mathe-matics, physical mathematics, and rational mechanics. He studied vector fields, the propagation of waves in mediums with selective absorption, the deformation of space, problems of relativity, functions of complex variables, and many others. His "Summary of the History of Mathematics" earned a well-deserved fame in Italy and abroad.

Giovanni Giorgi, after his private engineering work, took civic assignments and became Director of the Public Works Department of the City of Rome. He planned and organized the Municipal Electrical Company, the electric tramways of the city, the city refrigerator system, and worked on many civic projects in Italian towns.

In 1910 Giorgi became professor at the University of Rome, where he taught mathematics, physics, electrical engineering, and economics. In 1934 he became pro-

fessor at the Institute of Higher Mathematics in Rome. In 1947, although 76 years old, he was sent by the Italian Government as head of a delegation for the study of long-distance telephone communication in the United States. He represented the Italian Government at the bicentennial celebration of Princeton University. He was for many years a member of the IEC and of many Italian and foreign institutions.

Giorgi's personality was kind, simple, loving, and extremely lucid. All his pupils recall his clear mind, his tremendous culture, and his unfailing kindness and patience. He spoke and wrote in Italian, French, English, and German. His style was elegant, simple, and crystal-clear, devoid entirely of that heaviness, even in the most involved subjects, which often is found today in technical papers.

In the present age, wherein most individuals are led to ever-narrowing specializations, the mind of Giorgi, who excelled in so many fields, appears almost as that of a universal genius. In a certain manner, allowing for the difference of the times, he may be compared to Galileo Galilei. Keeping the comparison to modern times, he may stand next to Steinmetz for contributions to modern electrical engineering. To him, electrical science owes a great deal.

No words in memory of Giovanni Giorgi seem more fitting than those which he himself spoke in memory of a dear friend and colleague, the physicist O. M. Corbino: "What emptiness after his disappearance! And yet our soul is consoled by the thought that his works continue and perpetuate his spirit and his tradition. Honor to his memory."

This 66,700-kva water wheel generator soon will be producing electric power for the city of Seatde, Wash., in the rapidly growing Pacific Northwest. It is being constructed at the East Pittsburgh, Pa., plant of the Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It will be installed in the Gorge power house which is located on the Skagit River above Seattle.

When completed, the water wheel generator will weigh 580 tons; it will stand 21 feet high and will measure more than 36 feet in diameter. The rotor alone will weigh 287 tons; it is de-signed to turn at a speed of 164 rpm. The two workmen shown are using a pin gauge to check the stator for roundness preparatory to mount-ing the end bracket.